Claudio Castagnoli
|weight= |status= |trained= |debut= December 24, 2000 |billed= Lucerne, Switzerland |other= |birthname = Claudio Castagnoli|birth_date = |birth_place = Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland|resides = |names = Claudio Castagnoli|trainer = Dave Taylor Chris Hero Mike Quackenbush SigMasta Rappo Skayde}} Claudio Castagnoli (born December 27, 1980), better known by his ring name Cesaro, is a Swiss professional wrestler. He was previously known for his work various independent promotions including the Japan-based Pro Wrestling Noah. Particularly in the United States, when playing a heel, Castagnoli has been known to emphasize his European origin as part of his wrestling gimmick, proclaiming a superior intellect and fashion sensibility, and by regularly using the European uppercut.Very European Maneuvers PlaylistFive Very European Maneuvers for Antonio Cesaro Professional wrestling career Europe (2000−2004) Castagnoli received his initial training in his homeland of Switzerland from fellow Swiss wrestler SigMasta Rappo,http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/Bios2/castagnoli.html and made his debut on December 24, 2000 in Essen, Germany for the Germany-based Westside Xtreme Wrestling.wXw Extreme Wrestling Party results, Cagematch.net, retrieved July 29, 2007. Castagnoli first used a Japanese gimmick before becoming a Swiss banker along with Ares, together known as Swiss Money Holding. While performing in England, Castagnoli received training from Dave Taylor. In Switzerland, Castagnoli met Chris Hero and Mike Quackenbush, who invited Swiss Money Holding to perform in the United States. They competed in IWA Mid-South and Chikara and received training from Hero before returning to Europe. In 2004, Castagnoli received a United States Permanent Resident Card in his first try at the green card lottery and moved to the United States, where he began making regular appearances for Ring of Honor and Chikara, while Ares remained in Switzerland and formed the new Swiss Money Holding with Marc Roudin. Pro Wrestling Noah (2008–2011) Castagnoli made his debut for Pro Wrestling Noah on February 15, 2008, when he teamed up with Chris Hero in a losing effort against Jun Akiyama and Kentaro Shiga. He primarily wrestled in the promotion as Chris Hero's tag team partner and in January 2010 the Kings of Wrestling entered the Global Tag League, where they ended up losing all of their matches. Castagnoli and Hero returned to Noah on November 19, 2010, for a three-week-long tour. The team went undefeated in tag team matches, before being defeated on the final day of the tour, December 5, by Takuma Sano and Yoshihiro Takayama in a match for the GHC Tag Team Championship. The Kings of Wrestling returned to Noah in April 2011 to take part in the 2011 Global Tag League, where they managed to win two out of their seven round robin matches, finishing seventh out of eight teams in the block. On May 15, he traveled to Germany to challenge Takashi Sugiura's GHC Heavyweight Championship on "Genesis in Germany", co-promoted by local Westside Xtreme Wrestling and NOAH. However, he was unsuccessful in his challenge, losing after an Olympic Slam. Personal life Castagnoli is a native of Switzerland, being born and raised in Lucerne. As a child and youth, he was very active and was a capable sportsperson, being a keen participant in and follower of tennis, soccer, and basketball, sports that he still follows today. During his later teenage years, he developed an interest in professional wrestling and soon started training and competing, mainly in Switzerland and Germany, and travelled to the United States in the early 2000s to pursue further training. He returned to Europe to work and wrestle, before being successful in the green card lottery to gain permanent residency in the US at his first attempt in 2004, after which he quit his job and moved permanently to the US to pursue his wrestling career. Castagnoli is fluent in English, German, Italian, French, and his native Swiss German. He is a noted coffee aficionado and enjoys cooking, having even run a blog and Youtube channel called "Claudio's Café" in his pre-WWE days. He likes to travel, is an animal lover, and is a fan of films such as the James Bond movies and the Star Wars series. Castagnoli prides himself on holding high personal values and presenting himself as a professional, in both his personal and work life. Noted for his exceptional strength and stating that he is "100% natural", Castagnoli describes his training regime as "kind of a mix", with particular focus on CrossFit and variations of Olympic weightlifting. He has stated that he continually tries to learn new ways to workout in order to keep improving. He has performed a one-arm snatch with 145 lbs (66 kg), a one-arm clean and jerk with 135 lbs (61 kg), (on phone with Natalya Neidhart) and comfortably performed a two-arm clean and jerk with 286 lbs (130 kg). He has cited Razor Ramon as an inspiration. Other media Castagnoli made a brief appearance in Darren Aronofsky's 2008 wrestling drama film The Wrestler. In wrestling * Finishing moves ** Alpamare Waterslide (Side Death Valley driver) ** Ricola Bomb (Straight jacket sitout powerbomb, sometimes from the top rope) ** Roaring Swiss Uppercut (Discus European uppercut) ** Swiss Death / Very European Uppercut (Pop-up European uppercut) * Signature moves ** The Neutralizer (Over the shoulder single leg Boston crab with a neckscissors) ** Bicycle kick ** Cravate ** Giant swing ** Jim Breaks Special (Elevated wrist-lock) ** Match Killer (Horizontal belly-to-back suplex spun out into a sitout facebuster) ** Money Dive (Diving headbutt) ** Multiple European uppercut variations *** Diving *** Springboard *** Standing ** Multiple suplex variations *** Delayed vertical *** Double underhook *** Ricola-Plex (X) ** Suicide dive ** Swiss Sleeper Hold (Bridging cobra clutch) ** UBS Neckbreaker (Backbreaker rack dropped into a cutter) ** UFO – Unidentified Flying Opponent (Spinning backbreaker rack, sometimes while no-handed) Championships and accomplishments * Wrestling Observer Newsletter ** Tag Team of the Year (2010) with Chris Hero References External links * Category:Professional wrestling trainers Category:Swiss male professional wrestlers Category:Wrestlers Category:Pro Wrestling Noah Roster Category:Gaijin